September 26, 2017

Over the last several months, we’ve updated our line-up of lotto games and today we have two more announcements: In late October, $2 Mega Millions® will debut, and a new $1 game with a retro name will begin in November. Like its predecessor from the late 1980s, that $1 game will be called Lotto America.

Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich said that the updates are designed to give people new options for playing, and are built upon the successful business model the lottery has utilized in its other product lines.

“We’ve seen over time that our players want choices -- different games at different price points with different features,” Rich said. “With a revamp for Mega Millions and a revival for Lotto America, we’re coming through with new options.”

Sales in $2 Mega Millions will begin Oct. 28 and the first drawing in the revamped game will be Tuesday, Oct. 31. The game’s jackpots will start at $40 million rather than today’s $15 million, and the top prize will grow by at least $5 million between drawings when it is not won. Players in $2 Mega Millions will choose five numbers from a pool of 70 and another number, called the Mega Ball, from a pool of 25.

That compares to today’s 1/75 + 1/15 game design. The odds of winning the jackpot will be longer in the new design, but the odds will improve for winning a $1 million prize for matching just the first five numbers.

“The new game design will mean bigger starting jackpots and faster-growing jackpots overall,” Rich said. “More $1 million prizes also will spread the winnings around in the game.”

Powerball became a $2 game back in 2012, and that change also was designed to deliver the big jackpots that people expect while achieving more significant winnings at the game’s other prize levels. Since that revamp, Powerball has seen a world-record jackpot of nearly $1.6 billion in January 2016 and a grand prize of nearly $759 million in August, the second-highest prize in the 25-year history of the game. Iowa Lottery players have won 26 prizes of at least $1 million since the debut of $2 Powerball.

“Players have told us they’d like to see new features in Mega Millions, and we needed a redesign to make that possible,” Rich said.

This is the first price adjustment in Mega Millions since the game began in 2002. Mega Millions will continue to have its drawings on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Because the Mega Millions game is changing effective Oct. 28, the lottery is required to limit the number of multi-draw tickets that are sold beginning Sept. 26. A countdown to the last drawing before the game changes started on this day, and the number of multi-draw tickets available will be reduced with each drawing until the game’s final drawing in the current format on Oct. 27.

A few weeks after the Mega Millions changes take effect, a new $1 lotto game will debut in Iowa and at least 14 other states: Lotto America. The name is a throwback to the first multi-state lotto game that became known for big jackpots in the United States. Iowa was a founding member of the original version of Lotto America, which began back in 1988 and made headlines around the world at the time for its jackpots before ultimately being replaced by Powerball in 1992.

Today’s version of Lotto America will feature jackpots that start at $2 million and drawings twice per week. The new game begins sales Nov. 12 and its first drawing will be Nov. 15. It will have drawings on Wednesday and Saturday nights and feature nine prize levels.

“As we were researching new game possibilities there was one name that kept coming up, so we decided to go vintage,” Rich said. “After 25 years, Lotto America is making a comeback, with new features for today’s players.”

Lotto America players will still find the playstyle of Powerball, with numbers selected from two separate pools for a chance at a big prize. Players in the game will choose five numbers from a pool of 52 and another number, called the “Lotto America Star BallSM” from a pool of 10. Players who match all six numbers selected in a drawing will win the game’s jackpot.

The game’s jackpot will grow by at least $50,000 per drawing until it is won. The game also will have a multiplier feature. The odds of winning the jackpot in Lotto America will be around 1 in 26 million, compared to odds of about 1 in 292.2 million of winning the Powerball jackpot and odds of about 1 in 302.6 million of winning the Mega Millions jackpot under that game’s new design.

September 22, 2017

It’s funny how things can sometimes come in waves, like the questions we’ve gotten this week about a certain set of numbers on our website. The numbers have been on the site for years and we haven’t changed their format, but for some reason, people noticed them this week and wondered what they mean.

I’m referring to the Remaining Prizes page on our website where we list prizes of $100 or more that are still up for grabs in our scratch, pull-tab and InstaPlay games. On that page, you can see the number of larger prizes that have been won and those that remain unclaimed. (The list is updated once daily, Monday through Friday.)

We list games alphabetically on that page but also include other details, such as the price per ticket and the game number. And it’s that number that apparently has people talking.

Our games have names like “$250,000 Riches” or “Black Ice,” but to keep track of them in our databases, each game also is assigned a number. So, $250,000 Riches is game No. 925 and Black Ice is game No. 302. It’s simply an identifying number for that particular game. It doesn’t signify anything else.

We list the game numbers on that page because we often have games with similar names, like these currently on the market: Cash In, Cash Lift and Cash Line. The game numbers help differentiate the details involved and help players easily find the information they’re seeking.

I’ve asked our Web Team to add an additional header on the page so it will be clear that they’re simply identifying game numbers, but in the meantime, this blog entry can answer the question!

August 29, 2017

Aug. 30 update: All three of the $50,000 prizes from last Wednesday's Powerball drawing have now been claimed! A Fort Dodge man took home the last of the three prizes yesterday. In general, we see larger prizes in our games claimed pretty quickly as word of them spreads and people realize they've got significant winnings waiting for them!

I blogged last week about Iowa’s results from the big Powerball drawing, and some people have asked who won the three $50,000 prizes that hit that night in Iowa. As of today, two of those prizes have been claimed, but one is still out there.

The three $50,000-winning tickets from last Wednesday’s drawing were purchased in different communities: Fort Dodge, Dakota City and Evansdale. The Dakota City and Evansdale prizes have now been claimed.

Sharon Bruvik of Humboldt won a $50,000 prize with a ticket she bought at Casey’s, 502 Main St. in Dakota City. And Roger Weber of Evansdale claimed a $50,000 prize with a ticket he bought at Kwik Star, 100 W. Gilbert Drive in Evansdale.

It’s the Fort Dodge ticket that is still unclaimed. It was purchased at Ampride All Round Truck Plaza, 3243 Fifth Ave. S. in Fort Dodge. With that location being a truck stop, it’s possible that the winner is someone just passing through Iowa on a long-haul trip. Or, it could be a local winner – we just never know until someone actually comes to a lottery office with the winning ticket!

So, if you bought a Powerball ticket in the Fort Dodge area, get it out and double-check it! There's a big prize on the line!

August 24, 2017

Iowa Lottery players won more than 85,000 prizes in last night's Powerball drawing, including three tickets that were one number away from having a share of the jackpot and each won $50,000. The game’s giant jackpot ended up being even higher than the final estimates leading into the drawing, and the top prize was won by a ticket purchased in Massachusetts.

JACKPOT AMOUNT & WINNING NUMBERS

Strong sales nationwide pushed last night's jackpot to $758.7 million annuity, or $480.5 million lump-sum option. The winning numbers in last night's Powerball jackpot drawing were: 6-7-16-23-26 and Powerball 4. The Power Play number was 4. A total of 85,440 plays purchased by Iowa Lottery players won prizes in the drawing.

IOWA’S BIG WINNERS

Three tickets purchased in Iowa came within one number of having at least a share of the jackpot. They each won a $50,000 prize by matching four of the first five numbers and the Powerball. The tickets were purchased in different areas of the state:

Iowa Lottery players bought more than $4.7 million in Powerball tickets for last night’s drawing, including more than $3 million in tickets yesterday alone. During yesterday’s busiest stretch from about 5-6 p.m., Powerball tickets were selling at more than $7,800 per minute in Iowa. But the average Iowa Powerball purchase yesterday remained around $5, or about 3 plays per ticket. We're glad to see that Iowans played at a fun level and didn’t go overboard.

EASY PICKS VS. MANUAL PLAYS

It's a debate that's been around as long as the Powerball game itself: Easy pick or manual play? More than 90 percent of all of the plays purchased by Iowa Lottery players for last night's drawing were easy picks, meaning that the lottery terminal automatically generated the numbers on the ticket. That's a higher percentage than we often see, and likely speaks to the convenience factor of easy picks. Typically about 70 percent of all Powerball plays in Iowa are easy picks, with the remainder being number combinations that players choose themselves.

A NOTE ABOUT ‘COVERAGE’

The odds of winning the jackpot in Powerball are about 1 in 292.2 million because there are about 292.2 million ways you can combine the numbers in the game to make a play. By tracking sales, lottery officials can estimate how many of the possible combinations have been purchased for a particular drawing. About 54 percent of all the possible combinations were purchased in last night's drawing.

August 20, 2017

UPDATE: Wednesday's Powerball jackpot has just been increased to $700 million annuity, $443.3 million lump-sum option.

No one won the jackpot in last night's giant Powerball drawing, pushing the giant prize even further up. The jackpot for Wednesday’s drawing is now initially estimated at $650 million annuity, $411.7 million lump-sum option. That's the second-largest prize in the history of the Powerball game and the third-largest jackpot ever offered in North America. If strong sales continue as we've seen in recent days, it's likely that the jackpot estimate will be increased before Wednesday’s drawing.

SATURDAY’S IOWA RESULTS

Iowa Lottery players won nearly 50,000 prizes in last night's Powerball jackpot drawing, including one ticket that came within one number of having at least a share of the jackpot. Strong sales nationwide had pushed last night's jackpot to $541.9 million annuity, or $343.2 million lump-sum option.

A total of 49,710 plays purchased by Iowa Lottery players won prizes ranging from $4 up to $50,000. The $50,000-winning ticket was purchased at Hy-Vee, 5050 Edgewood Rd. in Cedar Rapids. It matched four of the first five numbers and the Powerball.

The winning numbers in last night's Powerball jackpot drawing were: 17-19-39-43-68 and Powerball 13. The Power Play number was 4.

Iowa Lottery players bought nearly $2.7 million in Powerball tickets for last night's drawing, including more than $1.4 million in tickets yesterday alone.

The odds of winning the jackpot in Powerball are about 1 in 292.2 million because there are about 292.2 million ways you can combine the numbers in the game to make a play. By tracking sales, lottery officials can estimate how many of the possible combinations have been purchased for a particular drawing. About 32 percent of all the possible combinations were purchased in last night's drawing.

PLEASE PLAY RESPONSIBLY

With the jackpot continuing its big run, the Iowa Lottery continues to urge the public to play responsibly. You’ve seen us say this many times, and we really mean it! It only takes one ticket to win. Have fun playing Powerball, but play within your means and don’t get in over your head. The fun of our games is that you can do a lot of dreaming for just a few dollars.

August 17, 2017

UPDATE: Saturday's Powerball jackpot has just been increased to $535 million annuity, $340.1 million lump-sum option for Saturday's drawing.

The Powerball jackpot continues its big run, climbing to an estimated $510 million annuity, $324.2 million lump-sum option for Saturday’s drawing. That ranks it at No. 5 on the list of the biggest jackpots ever offered in the game and No. 8 among the biggest lottery jackpots in North America.

A ticket purchased in Cedar Rapids came within one number of hitting Powerball’s big prize in last night’s drawing, matching four of the first five numbers and the Powerball to win a $50,000 prize. That ticket was purchased at Casey’s, 888 Vernon Valley Drive SE in Cedar Rapids. The winning numbers in last night’s Powerball drawing were: 9-15-43-60-64 and Powerball 4. The Power Play number was 3.

Highest Level Since World-Record Drawing

Powerball’s grand prize has now topped the $500 million mark for the first time since the game’s world-record jackpot of nearly $1.6 billion in January 2016. That giant prize was split by three tickets in California, Florida and Tennessee. The current jackpot has been growing for more than two months and was last won in the drawing on June 10 with a ticket purchased in California.

Powerball’s grand prize has now topped the $500 million mark for the first time since the game’s world-record jackpot of nearly $1.6 billion in January 2016. That giant prize was split by three tickets in California, Florida and Tennessee. The current jackpot has been growing for more than two months and was last won in the drawing on June 10 with a ticket purchased in California.

Last Week’s Historic, Simultaneous Big Jackpots

Last week was the first time that the jackpots in Powerball and Mega Millions® had simultaneously topped the $300 million mark. While the run for Mega Millions ended Friday night when that game’s $393 million jackpot was won with a ticket purchased in Illinois, the Powerball jackpot remains the one that got away.

Players can buy tickets here in Iowa for Saturday’s Powerball jackpot up until 8:59 p.m. that day. Tickets purchased after that deadline will be for an upcoming drawing and won’t have a shot at that night’s big prize.

Iowa Factoids

Iowa Lottery players have won eight Powerball jackpots. The biggest Powerball jackpot won to date in Iowa was a $241 million prize claimed in June 2012 by The Shipping 20, a group of co-workers from the Quaker Oats plant in Cedar Rapids.

August 14, 2017

A hiccup in their travel plans while in Iowa for a high school class reunion led a Texas couple to buy a $1 million-winning Powerball® ticket in western Iowa! Wayne and Vicki Dixon of Allen, Texas, traveled to Iowa last week to attend Wayne’s 55th high school reunion in Denison.

The couple, who are both retired, said they had hotel reservations for the weekend in Denison, but they arrived a day early and the hotel didn’t have any vacancies that day. So they stopped at a hotel in Avoca. While they were there, they stopped for gas at Wings America Travel Center, just off Interstate 80 at the Avoca exit. While Wayne filled up their vehicle’s gas tank, Vicki went inside and bought a Powerball ticket for last Wednesday’s drawing. And the rest, as they say, is history!

Click on the video above to see Vicki and Wayne tell their story. That definitely qualifies as big news from a class reunion!

And here’s a follow-up about the jackpot hub-bub from last week: It was the first time that the jackpots in both Powerball and Mega Millions® were above the $300 million mark at the same time. The Mega Millions jackpot had hit $393 million when it was won Friday night with a ticket purchased in Illinois. But we weren’t left out: Mega Millions players in Iowa won a total of 33,482 prizes at the game’s other levels in that night’s drawing.

The Powerball jackpot continues to grow. It’s now at an estimated $430 million annuity, $273.4 million lump-sum option for Wednesday’s drawing. Iowa Powerball players won a total of 21,368 prizes ranging from $4 up to $50,000 in this past Saturday’s drawing. The $50,000-winning ticket was purchased at McDermott Oil Co., 1501 First Ave. E. in Cascade.

August 10, 2017

The jackpots in Powerball and Mega Millions are still on their big run, but two tickets in Iowa came within one number each of hitting Powerball’s big prize last night! A ticket purchased in Avoca in western Iowa won a $1 million prize, while a ticket purchased in Colfax in central Iowa won a $50,000 prize.

Last Night’s Results

Iowa Lottery players won more than 15,000 prizes ranging from $4 up to $1 million in last night’s Powerball drawing. The $1 million-winning ticket was purchased at the Wings America Travel Centre at 7005 N. Chestnut St. in Avoca. (The location is just off Interstate 80 at the Avoca exit.) That ticket matched the first five numbers but missed the Powerball. Wings America will receive a $1,000 bonus from the lottery for selling the winning ticket at one of its locations.

Another Iowa ticket matched four of the first five numbers and the Powerball to win a $50,000 prize. It was purchased at Kum & Go, 1200 N. Walnut St. in Colfax.

The winning numbers in last night’s Powerball drawing were: 12-30-36-47-62 and Powerball 9. The Power Play® number was 4. No one won the jackpot, so the big prize has grown to an estimated $356 million annuity ($224 million lump-sum option) for Saturday’s drawing.

Historic, Simultaneous Big Jackpots

This is the first time that the jackpots in Powerball and Mega Millions have simultaneously topped the $300 million mark. Powerball’s big prize now ranks No. 14 overall in that game, while the Mega Millions jackpot is currently ranked No. 6 on the list of the biggest prizes ever offered in that game. The Mega Millions jackpot is an estimated $382 million annuity ($238.3 million cash option) for Friday’s drawing.

The fact that both games are seeing big jackpots at the same time is extremely unusual, and it speaks to the unpredictable factor of lottery jackpots: You never know when the next big winner will hit.

August 08, 2017

Aug. 9 update: Nobody hit the jackpot in last night's Mega Millions drawing, so the dueling jackpots are still ON! The Mega Millions jackpot now stands an estimated $382 million annuity ($238.3 million lump-sum option) for Friday's drawing. So now we'll wait to see what happens in tonight's Powerball drawing ...

This week is the first time that the jackpots in Powerball® and Mega Millions® have both topped the $300 million mark at the same time since the games began to be sold by all U.S. lotteries seven years ago.

Prior to January 2010, the two games were sold by separate groups of lotteries. U.S. lottery directors reached an agreement back then that allowed both games to be sold by all states.

The jackpot for tonight’s Mega Millions drawing is an estimated $350 million annuity ($218.3 million cash option), while the Powerball jackpot for tomorrow night is an estimated $307 million annuity ($193.2 million cash option). That puts both jackpots in the Top 25 for each game.

The fact that both games are seeing big jackpots at the same time is unusual, and it speaks to the unpredictable nature of lottery jackpots: You just never know when the next big winner will hit!

Both jackpots have been growing for some time now. The Mega Millions jackpot was last won in the drawing on April 28 with a ticket purchased in California. It’s been growing since then to hit its current level. Remember that you can buy tickets here in Iowa for tonight’s Mega Millions drawing up until 8:59 p.m.

And the Powerball jackpot was last won on June 10 with a ticket purchased in California. You can buy tickets here in Iowa for tomorrow night’s Powerball jackpot up until 8:59 p.m. tomorrow.

If you buy tickets after those deadlines, they’ll be for a later, upcoming drawing.

Mega Millions and Powerball have both seen jackpots much larger than their current amounts, but not at the same time. Powerball currently has the world record for a lottery jackpot: a prize of nearly $1.6 billion that was split in January 2016 by three tickets in California, Florida and Tennessee. The largest Mega Millions jackpot to date is a $656 million prize won in March 212 by three tickets in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland.

Iowa Lottery players have won eight Powerball jackpots so far. The biggest Powerball prize won to date in Iowa was a $241 million jackpot claimed in June 2012 by The Shipping 20, a group of co-workers from the Quaker Oats plant in Cedar Rapids. And while Iowa has seen several winners at the $1 million level in Mega Millions, we are still waiting for our first jackpot winner in that game here in Iowa.

July 28, 2017

Meeting our winners is a time to celebrate here at the lottery, and it’s always fun to hear their stories.

Last week, a Massachusetts man had an interesting story about how he ended up in Iowa buying a lottery ticket and winning $1,000!

Peter Martin of Leominster, Mass. (near Boston) told our Cedar Rapids team that he is traveling to South Dakota for the first time with a group of 28. They are headed to Sturgis, S.D. for the annual motorcycle rally that starts Aug. 4.

Along the way, Peter has purchased several souvenirs, including a hat, poncho and an inflatable swan. His souvenir from Iowa happened to be a “Black Ice” scratch ticket from Express Lane Gas & Food Mart, 4425 West Locust St. in Davenport, and that ticket ended up winning $1,000!

When he claimed his $1,000 prize July 27 at our regional office in Cedar Rapids he asked if he could get his photo taken (above) with some of the things he’s bought along the way. We of course said, "Yes!"

If you win the lottery, we hope to make your experience just as fun and memorable as Peter’s was last week.

July 20, 2017

We have the early numbers for our latest fiscal year, and it will be in our Top 4 overall. Record sales of scratch tickets led the way in fiscal year 2017 and the Iowa Lottery finished the year well ahead of budget projections.

The biggest difference from 2016’s record results came in the sales total for Powerball®, which saw a world-record jackpot of nearly $1.6 billion in January 2016 and had enormous sales in Iowa and across the country. There won’t be a world-record jackpot every year! We understand that lottery results can and do fluctuate over time, which is why we budget conservatively.

The preliminary results show that the Iowa Lottery generated nearly $81 million in proceeds to state causes in FY 2017, which ended June 30. It’s the fourth time that annual proceeds have topped the $80-million mark in the lottery’s 32-year history. Annual lottery sales were $352.2 million, exceeding the $300 million mark for the sixth year in a row. Prizes to players totaled $215.6 million, while lottery sales commissions to local businesses across the state totaled nearly $23 million.

In general, the particular type of lottery product that sells best in a given time period has a big impact on overall lottery results. For example, scratch games have a smaller profit margin than do lotto games like Powerball and Mega Millions. So in a year like FY 2017 when scratch tickets sell particularly well, lottery profits will likely be a smaller percentage of total sales simply because scratch games have a smaller profit margin overall. In a year when lotto tickets sell particularly well as they did in FY 2016, lottery profit margins will likely be higher.

Scratch games achieved record results in FY 2017 for a third straight year, with sales totaling $237.6 million. That’s an increase of nearly $4 million from the previous record that had just been set in FY 2016.

We always remember that lottery products are an optional purchase. We’ll do our best to take care of the behind-the-scenes work so you as our customers can just have fun playing.

So who were Iowa’s biggest lottery winners in FY 2017? Four Iowa Lottery players claimed prizes of at least $1 million during the year:

July 19, 2017

One of our recent lottery winners is getting a lot of likes and shares for his story after winning with numbers he saw in a dream. Some of our other winners also have wondered if something bigger was involved in their lottery luck.

Some, for example, have wondered if deceased loved ones sent luck their way from the great beyond. Obviously, we have no way of knowing what forces may be at work, but it’s a fascinating subject, for sure!

Kelvin Wynn of Davenport won a total of $300,000 in a recent drawing of Iowa’s Pick 4 game. He won 10 prizes of $30,000 all in one drawing by matching the four winning numbers in the exact order they were drawn. That’s known as a straight play.

Wynn, who works for a landscaping company in the Quad Cities, said he saw the number 2112 in a dream, and then the next day, the house number of one of his clients happened to be 2112. The coincidences continued when he saw 2112 on the license plate of a vehicle in front of him at a stoplight, and his purchase at a department store added up to $21.12.

Wynn said he rarely plays the lottery, but he had a good feeling about the combination 2-1-1-2 and decided to play that set of numbers in Pick 4. He checked the lottery website the next day and said he couldn’t believe his eyes, so he had his wife double-check the results. And it was true: He’d won big.

He plans to use his lottery winnings to help pay the educational expenses for his three children – two of whom just graduated from college and the third, who’s currently a student. He also plans to splurge a little with a new set of golf clubs!

So, do YOU believe in the stars aligning (or whatever you might call it) for lottery luck?

July 14, 2017

As you’re out and about traveling this summer, here’s a quick reminder about where you can claim lottery tickets.

We heard from a man in Georgia earlier this week asking if he could claim the prize he won on an Iowa Lottery scratch ticket at his local lottery retailer in that state. The quick answer is no. Here’s why:

If you buy a lottery ticket in Iowa, you’ll need to claim any prize you win from that ticket here in Iowa. And if you buy a ticket in another state, you’ll need to claim any prize won from it in that state.

There’s an enormous amount of technology that goes into running a lottery today, and each state lottery has its own computer system to track the tickets it sells. Because each state lottery individually tracks its tickets, sales and prizes, the computer systems involved are independent from each other. That means the equipment here in Iowa can’t read tickets from out of state, and vice versa. In addition, the money raised from the sale of lottery tickets in each state stays in that state to support valuable causes there.

If visiting an Iowa Lottery retail location or one of our offices just won’t work for you, remember that we always offer players the option of claiming most prizes through the mail. (There are a few exceptions to that. For example, if you win a jackpot, that prize has to be claimed in person at our headquarters location in Clive.)

Many other state lotteries also offer players the ability to claim prizes by mail. Check with the respective state lottery from which you purchased your ticket about the details in that regard.

Safe travels this summer! And good luck on any lottery tickets you buy along the way!

June 02, 2017

Last Friday we told you about some big jackpots up for grabs in our three InstaPlay Progressive games. Here’s an update for those of you wondering what happened to those prizes.

The jackpots in both the Cherry Twist Progressive and the Jumbo Bucks Progressive InstaPlay games were won this week. But as of 2 p.m. today, the big prize in the Loose Change Progressive game was still climbing. UPDATE: A $4,807.84-winning ticket in Loose Change Progressive was sold Friday afternoon at Yesway, 418 S. Federal Ave. in Mason City. Congratulations to the lucky winner!

Earlier today, Brad Yost of Hamburg claimed a $43,224.60 jackpot prize in Jumbo Bucks Progressive. He bought his winning ticket Thursday night at his local Casey’s. Yost, 57, said that he stopped at Casey’s for a pizza and breadsticks and decided to buy a lottery ticket, too. His decision ended up being in his favor as he claimed the biggest progressive jackpot prize to date in our InstaPlay games.

The top prize in the Cherry Twist Progressive game was claimed Tuesday by Larry Shepherd of Fremont. He won a jackpot prize of $17,572.85 on a ticket he bought at his local Casey’s.

Remember, you can see the latest jackpot information in our InstaPlay Progressive games on the homepage of our website, as well as on each game’s webpage. We also list the date and city where the last jackpot prize was won in each of these games.

May 05, 2017

Here’s a question we get a lot from folks who wonder about the withholdings that apply to lottery prizes compared to other types of winnings, such as prizes claimed at a casino or in a raffle. There are different laws that apply in each of those instances, and our expertise is obviously in the law as it applies to the Iowa Lottery!

The Iowa Lottery does not withhold tax for prizes of $600 or less. By law, prizes of more than $600 will face 5 percent state withholding. If a player wins a prize of more than $5,000, an additional 25 percent federal withholding will apply when the prize is claimed.

All winners of prizes of more than $600 will receive a Federal Form W2-G from the Iowa Lottery. The form shows the prize you won and all taxes withheld. You’ll need to include that form and the information from it when you file your income taxes for the year in which you claimed your prize.

The withholdings are a credit toward the taxes owed -- winners may get some of it back, or they may have to pay more, depending on their income.

For prizes won in a particular calendar year, the lottery will mail out Form W2-G to our winners no later than Jan. 31 of the following year. If you’ve won a prize of more than $600 and you’ve moved since you claimed the prize, be sure to contact us at 515-725-7900 and provide us with your updated address. That way we’ll mail your W2-G form to the right place!

April 28, 2017

Here’s a question that seems to have come up in conversation for all of us who work at the Iowa Lottery: Can we play?

The short answer is: no. As Iowa Lottery employees, it’s against the law for us to buy tickets in Iowa or claim a lottery prize here. And that’s as it should be – we know the ins and outs of the lottery and its games, so it makes sense that we shouldn’t be playing. I always tell people that we have to live vicariously through them on this point!

But it’s perfectly fine for Iowa Lottery employees to the play the lottery outside of Iowa because we don’t work for the lotteries in those other states. And I confess that I definitely understand reverse psychology on this point, because now that I can’t play in Iowa, I almost always stop to buy tickets when I’m out of state. Hey, I want to win, too!

So what’s the most I’ve ever won? I won $100 once on a scratch ticket! You would have thought that I hit a multi-million-dollar jackpot, I was so excited! It was fun! I look at lottery tickets as a chance to daydream about what would happen if I ever were to win big.

Maybe someday it will happen. But as long as I work here, there’s one thing for sure: It won’t be in Iowa.

April 19, 2017

Twenty-five years ago today, a game that would transform the face of lotteries got its start.

Sales in a new game called Powerball® debuted on April 19, 1992, in Iowa and 14 other states. The first drawing in the game came just a few days later on April 22, 1992.

In the 25 years since, Powerball has gone on to become synonymous with big jackpots. Today, the game is played by every U.S. lottery: Powerball tickets are sold in 44 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Powerball began as a way for lotteries in smaller states to offer big jackpots by joining together to pool their combined populations and sales. The game also introduced the concept of two drawings in one: Powerball players choose numbers from two sets of pools for a chance at a big prize.

When it was introduced, Powerball jackpots started at a guaranteed $2 million. Players chose five numbers from a pool of 1 to 45, and then one more, called the Powerball, from a separate pool of 1 to 45.

The game has been updated several times through the years to introduce new features and provide additional ways to play. And numerous other lottery games around the world have been modeled after Powerball.

Today, Powerball holds the world record for the largest lottery jackpot, a prize of nearly $1.6 billion that was split by three tickets in California, Florida and Tennessee in the drawing on Jan. 13, 2016. Powerball now is a $2 game and players choose 5 out of 69 numbers for the white balls, then 1 out of 26 numbers for the Powerball. The game’s jackpot starts at a guaranteed $40 million and grows until it’s won.

Here is a “by-the-numbers” look at Powerball in Iowa:

$241 million = largest Powerball jackpot won in Iowa. That prize was won in June 2012 by the Shipping 20, a group of co-workers from the Quaker Oats plant in Cedar Rapids.

1,222 = number of Powerball prizes of at least $10,000 won in Iowa.

27 = number of Powerball prizes of $1 million won in Iowa.

5 = number of Powerball prizes of $2 million won in Iowa.

8 = number of Powerball jackpots won by Iowa Lottery players.

25 = number of years the Iowa Lottery has been part of Powerball. Former Iowa Lottery CEO Dr. Ed Stanek was a co-inventor of the game and Iowa was a founding member.

$5.2 million = first Powerball jackpot amount claimed by an Iowa player. Ed Brown of Washington split a $10.4 million jackpot with a Missouri woman in December 1992.

$81.4 million = highest annual Powerball sales in Iowa, which occurred in fiscal year 2013.

April 12, 2017

We got nearly identical questions from Facebook and by email from two different players asking where winning pull-tab tickets can be cashed here in Iowa. Here’s the answer in case you have wondered the same thing:

Prizes in our pull-tab games need to claimed at the retail location where you purchased your ticket, or, for pull-tab prizes of more than $600, at a lottery office. This is due to the individual accounting procedures for those games.

If you don’t remember where you bought your winning pull-tab ticket or you received the ticket as a gift, you can send us an email or call us and we can tell you where the ticket was purchased. We’ll need to know the name of the pull-tab game on your ticket as well as the ticket’s serial number, which is found on the front, right above the bar code.

All tickets in any of the Iowa Lottery’s other games can be redeemed at any lottery retailer across the state, except for prizes of more than $600. Those prizes must be claimed at a lottery office for tax-reporting purposes.

And remember the deadlines for claiming prizes. Scratch and pull-tab tickets are valid for 90 days after the announced end of the game. Tickets in Powerball®, Mega Millions®, Hot Lotto®, Lucky for Life® and All or Nothing™ are valid for 365 days from the date of the drawing. Tickets in Pick 3, Pick 4 and InstaPlay are valid 90 days from the date of the drawing.

You can find more information about claiming lottery prizes on our website, here.

April 03, 2017

With the results officially recorded from the final drawing in our Power Cruise™ promotion, we decided to take a look back at all the locations where Iowa’s trip winners live!

So here’s a map showing the communities that saw cruise winners in the promotion. And for those of you doing a careful count, the image is correct with only 21 pins. Iowa had 25 Power Cruise winners, but there were multiple winners in a couple communities.

Click here for the full list of winners. Thank you to everyone who entered and congrats to those folks who are now planning their 2018 Caribbean cruise vacations!

March 27, 2017

A new InstaPlay game has just debuted here in Iowa, adding another progressive-jackpot game to the mix. It’s called “Jumbo Bucks Progressive” and it’s a $5 game that began sales yesterday across the state.

This is the first time we’ve added a new InstaPlay game since the product’s introduction back in November here in Iowa. There now are four InstaPlay games that you can play in our state and we anticipate adding even more over time.

The jackpot in Jumbo Bucks Progressive starts at $5,000 and grows with each ticket sold in the game. That’s the same concept you’ve already seen in the $2 “Cherry Twist Progressive” game – that jackpot starts at $2,000 and grows until someone wins it. Since the start of the Cherry Twist Progressive game in November, its jackpot has been hit 18 times, with the amounts ranging from a little more than $2,200 up to more than $28,200. That’s the fun of a progressive jackpot – you never know when the next win will hit, or how much the prize will be!

With this new InstaPlay game’s introduction, we’ve redesigned our website’s home page a bit to quickly provide the details that players have said they want. I’ve included an image of the new design below.

In the case of lotto games like Powerball® and Mega Millions®, you’ll now find on our home page the next estimated jackpot amount; winning numbers from the latest drawing; details about when and where the jackpot was last won; and a link where you can check your numbers. For InstaPlay progressive jackpot games, you’ll see the current jackpot amount – updated every two minutes – and details about when and where the jackpot was last won.

(March 28 update: The first jackpot in Jumbo Bucks Progressive has just been won! Someone bought a ticket winning a progressive jackpot of $5,918.40 today at Delimart, 1920 Lower Muscatine Road in Iowa City.)

Players have let us know that they like our InstaPlay progressive jackpots, so we hope you’ll have fun playing the new Jumbo Bucks Progressive!

March 23, 2017

Fans of our “Bingo” scratch games have noticed that there are two versions of the game in stores right now and have asked us why that’s the case. The quick answer is that the supply of tickets in the “Blackout Bingo” game is running low and we needed a new version to replace it, which is called “Bonus Ball Bingo.”

The lottery has dozens of scratch games for sale at any one time, and throughout the year, we replace ending games with new ones as part of our standard procedures.

Sales in the $2 Blackout Bingo game started back in January 2015. It’s been very popular and tickets in that game are nearly sold out, although some retail locations still have a supply left.

Bonus Ball Bingo is the replacement game for Blackout Bingo. Tickets in this newer version of the Bingo scratch game debuted March 13 and are already on sale in many locations. They’ll be added to our game mix statewide as remaining locations run through their supply of Blackout Bingo. Bonus Ball Bingo has a play style similar to Blackout Bingo, but includes a new feature – Bonus Bingo Balls. There are three bonus numbers you can use to complete any Bingo in Cards 1 thru 4, or if any of your three Bonus Bingo Ball numbers appear on Cards 1 thru 4, you win the corresponding prize amount shown below that Bonus Bingo Ball number.

As of this morning, there are still two top prizes of $25,000 yet to be claimed in the Blackout Bingo game. (There were 21 top prizes available in the game, so nearly all of them have been claimed.) The game will remain on sale until the last top prize in it is claimed or the supply of tickets runs out, whichever comes first.

And remember Bingo fans, Bonus Ball Bingo will be the new version to look for at your favorite lottery retailer.

March 16, 2017

Someone who bought a Powerball ticket at a North Liberty tobacco shop won a $2 million prize in last night’s drawing. It’s North Liberty’s second big Powerball winner in the past six months!

The winning ticket was purchased at Smokin’ Joe’s, 465 S. Iowa Highway 965 in North Liberty. The $2 million-winning ticket came within one number of having at least a share of last night’s $123.4 million jackpot.

The ticket initially matched the first five numbers but missed the Powerball to win a $1 million prize. But whoever bought the ticket also added the Power Play® option to the purchase, which multiplied the prize to $2 million. The North Liberty ticket was the only one in the country to win a $2 million prize in last night’s drawing.

Last night’s winning numbers were: 16-30-41-48-53 and Powerball 16. No one matched all six numbers to win the jackpot, so the big prize climbs to an estimated $141 million annuity ($83.3 million cash option) for Saturday.

Smokin’ Joe’s will receive a $2,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the $2 million-winning ticket.

Prizes of $2 million need to be claimed at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. If the winner has questions before coming forward to claim the prize, they’re welcome to call us here at the lottery at 515-725-7900.

And we can’t forget the other big Powerball prize in eastern Iowa that’s still unclaimed! That $2 million prize was won with a ticket purchased in Cedar Rapids for the Powerball drawing on July 16. Players in Iowa have 365 days from the date of the drawing to claim Powerball prizes, so there is still time for that prize to be claimed. Double-check your tickets to see if you’ve won a prize!

March 13, 2017

Call it what you’d like – a winning streak, something in the water, a run of luck – but Waterloo is seeing whatever it is! We just got our latest lists in, and three players from Waterloo all claimed big scratch-game prizes on Friday. Two of the prizes were for $50,000 and the third was for $30,000.

Mirsad Kostic of Waterloo got things started by claiming a $50,000 prize in the “Super Crossword” game. Not to be outdone, Megan Gardner from Waterloo then claimed a $50,000 prize in the “7 is a Blast” game. And then along came Joyce Phillips of Waterloo, who claimed a $30,000 prize in the “Bonus Crossword” game! They all bought their tickets at different retail locations in the Waterloo area.

Their prizes were among seven that Iowa players claimed of at least $30,000 on Friday alone. Maybe we’ve all got spring fever or something! In any case, congratulations to our winners. We’ll be on the look-out to see where a winning streak pops up next!

March 03, 2017

We’ve gotten some questions since Wednesday’s Powerball® drawing from players who wondered if that night’s Power Play® number was correct. And the short answer is: Yes, it really was 10X.

For years in Powerball, the Power Play option included only the numbers 2-5, meaning that any prize you won was multiplied by that amount. But when Powerball was updated to its current design in October 2015, the Power Play option got an expansion.

The Power Play now includes a 10X when the game’s advertised annuitized jackpot is $150 million or less. In those drawings, these are the Power Play numbers available: 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X and 10X.

When the Power Play number is 10, most prizes (except the jackpot and Match 5 level) are multiplied by that amount. (The Match 5 prize of $1 million continues to double to $2 million with the Power Play added.)

Wednesday night’s drawing is the first time the 10X had come up as the Power Play number since the change was made. With the 10X is only available when the jackpot is $150 million or less, it doesn’t always get to make an appearance! So Wednesday’s drawing brought some surprise results – in a good way – for prize winners who had added the Power Play option.

Some of the folks who contacted us said they wanted an example of how the 10X works. So, let’s look at the $100 prize you can win by matching four of the numbers in a Powerball drawing. If you win $100 and you added the Power Play option to your ticket, your prize will be multiplied to $1,000.

Someone who bought a ticket at a convenience store in Sloan in northwest Iowa won a $50,000 prize in Wednesday’s drawing for matching four of the first five numbers and the Powerball. If that player would have added the Power Play option, the prize would have been multiplied to $500,000! (A player in New York had done just that and took home a $500,000 prize from that night’s drawing.)

So the next time that the 10X comes up, you’ll know that it really is possible!

On Monday, Karolyn Manley of Ireton claimed a $9,511.55 progressive jackpot she had won Friday on a Cherry Twist Progressive ticket she bought at Chubs Country Store, 100 Iowa Highway 12 in Akron.

Also on Monday, Tim Wright of Jewell claimed a $2,609.15 progressive jackpot he had won Saturday in the same game on a ticket he bought at Swift Stop, 3218 Orion Drive in Ames.

There have now been 11 for jackpot winners in the Cherry Twist Progressive InstaPlay game, which, along with the rest of our InstaPlay products, just debuted in November.

The jackpot in Cherry Twist Progressive starts at $2,000 and grows with each ticket sold in the game until it’s won. If this is the first time you’re hearing about our new InstaPlay games, click here to see the details about them.

January 11, 2017

One year ago, everyone was talking about Powerball®, and many of you were waiting in lines at lottery retailers all across Iowa to try your luck at the world-record jackpot.

Who could forget the frenzy over the jackpot of nearly $1.6 billion in January 2016? That historic jackpot run began on Nov. 7, 2015, and continued for 19 drawings without a jackpot winner. The run ended on Jan. 13, 2016, with three jackpot-winning tickets sold in California, Florida and Tennessee.

Iowa Lottery players won nearly 225,000 prizes in that night’s world-record drawing, including a $2 million prize, which was claimed by Bryon Stewart of Onawa in western Iowa.

We sold more than $12 million in Powerball tickets for that drawing, which helped set numerous sales records across the country and led us to a record year of proceeds to the state causes that benefit all Iowans.

It was a busy time here at the lottery and for our nearly 2,400 retailers across the state, but in the end, it was a lot of fun to be part of such a memorable moment.

January 03, 2017

Somewhere in Iowa, a lottery player has claimed a prize that pushed things past a significant historical threshold. Since the Iowa Lottery’s start back in 1985, lottery players who bought their tickets in Iowa now have won a total of more than $3.8 billion in prizes.

And while we join you in saying, “Wow! Holy cow!” about the new milestone, we also offer our thanks to everyone who has bought a ticket. We do our best to keep things fresh and fun, and we’re glad you’ve enjoyed our products through the years.

We’ve not sure exactly which prize it was that lifted the winnings total past the $3.8 billion mark, but it sure is fun to see that number continue to climb!

Now, if you’re not a big winner yet, we know you likely won’t be satisfied until you see YOUR NAME on a big check. But we hope you can join in the celebration for now of this big number!

The other number that holds huge meaning for us is the total in lottery help to state causes. That proceeds total is currently at more than $1.7 billion, but it also is growing, so maybe we’ll see a new threshold on that side soon, too.

And just how are lottery proceeds used in Iowa? Click here to see the long list of ways that lottery funds have helped state causes through the years

December 23, 2016

A human reporting error caused the winning numbers for last night’s Lucky for Life drawing to initially be reported incorrectly here in Iowa and then delayed the drawing results in the state entirely for several hours.

We were able to correctly enter the official drawing results this evening and have resumed paying prizes from that drawing.

The Lucky for Life drawing was conducted correctly as scheduled last night and official results were produced. But our redundant reporting procedures here in Iowa failed after the drawing. It takes time to correct an error like that on our statewide gaming system. We worked through those complexities as quickly as possible. We know that as long as human beings are involved in any process, mistakes can happen. But we sincerely apologize for today’s interruption.

We are reviewing our procedures with an eye toward improvements and enhancements as we move ahead. And, we want to hear from any Iowa Lottery players who have questions or concerns about this situation. We’ll be glad to help.

The mistake impacted only the Iowa Lottery’s reporting of the official results for last night’s Lucky for Life drawing. All other lottery tickets could be purchased, checked and cashed as usual at lottery terminals across the state and the results for all other lottery drawings were recorded correctly here in Iowa.

The CORRECT winning numbers in last night’s Lucky for Life drawing were: 10-15-21-23-34 and Lucky Ball 1. That is the winning combination for which we'll pay prizes.

As part of our procedures, two different people in two different locations both enter the results from lotto drawings before they are officially recorded on the lottery’s statewide gaming system that connects the lottery terminals in retail locations all across the state. But when the winning numbers from last night’s Lucky for Life drawing were being inputted, one of the numbers was mistakenly entered as “24” rather than “34.”

The incorrect results were available about 10 p.m. yesterday. Lottery staffers noticed the error shortly after 7 a.m. today, corrected the drawing results on the lottery’s website and disabled the results for the drawing on lottery terminals, knowing that correcting the lottery’s statewide gaming system would take longer. We continued to work through the situation today and were able to go live with corrected official results about 6 p.m. tonight.

Our records show that a total of 3,318 Lucky for Life plays here in Iowa won prizes ranging from $3 up to $200, for a total of $17,672 in winnings in last night’s drawing. Under the incorrect results initially reported, 96 plays would have won differing amounts for a total difference of $223 in prizes.

We know that the number of folks potentially impacted by the situation is small, but we also want to hear from anyone who may have a question or concern. Any player with a Lucky for Life ticket from last night’s drawing can now check and cash the tickets with the official numbers drawn.

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As the lottery’s vice president of external relations, I’m a member of the senior management team at the Iowa Lottery, where I’ve worked since 1999. I’ve spent my years at the lottery learning as much as I can about all the ins and outs of the lottery industry. I’ll put that knowledge to work here so I can share the behind-the-scenes details with you!